OK, who turned on the snow?
Category: All Posts
From gays to gangs
After such a fuss and bother over gays serving in the military, it seems the armed forces must now deal with a real threat — gang members in their ranks. (A tip o’ the Dog Rat toupee to Denro for the link.)
What do you get…
If you cross Andy Rooney with Gilbert Gottfried, you get Lewis Black.
Boston, you’re my home
Boston radio station WGBH is named after the Great Blue Hill, the site of the station’s antenna (the TV tower is elsewhere). In addition to its three over-air HD stations, WGBH has online stations, including one that plays The Jazz Decades, the long-running series about the music of the era between WWI and WWII that was hosted by the late, great Ray Smith.
For those who prefer being up-to-the-minute, there’s WGBH Local Indie, a service devoted to Boston area indie bands. Last night on the Roku player I caught the tail end of a song that sent me grabbing for the netbook to find out what it is. It’s When He Comes Home, by the Banditas. The timeless, essential, stripped-down sound of garage bands lives on!
And now… sports! The Boston Red Sox had their all-time worst end-of-season collapse this year, and it’s all my fault, as Denro explained to me:
I still say that you cursed them after that rainy rescheduled “Irene” game in late August. That’s when it all fell apart. They never won two games in a row after that. It came out today that some players resented the owners for the rescheduling of the games, so you sowed the seeds of dissension, as they all read your blog.
Yes, I know, and I’m truly sorry! But let’s please try to forget the unpleasantness of this terrible year’s debacle and its front office fallout, and look back with our friends across the pond at the BBC, to the stunning success of 2004, when the Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino.
[audio:http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/witness/witness_20111015-0900a.mp3|titles=BBC Witness: 2004 Red Sox]Happy Birthday, Joe Sinnott!
Marvel Comics art legend Joltin’ Joe Sinnott is 85 today. Hover over the picture to see Joe “back in the day,” as he likes to say. The thing about Joe is, looking at the artwork he does now, there’s no “back in the day” about it, because it’s as perfect as ever.
I didn’t start collecting comic books until early 1966, after the Batman TV show premiered, so I’d missed a lot of great Sixties issues and I really appreciated comics with reprints (although later I was dismayed to learn the artists and writers received no reprint royalties). Marvel Tales #10, September ’67, reprinted the Thor story from Journey into Mystery #92, May ’63. That was the first time I saw art that Joe had both penciled and inked. From that I was able to get a better appreciation for what Joe did to give Jack Kirby’s forceful Fantastic Four art such an attractive and clean appearance.
For much better printing quality than this scan from Marvel Tales #10, I recommended The Mighty Thor Omnibus, Vol. 1, which I was happy to get for my birthday. I don’t know how much of the book was taken from original art, but this particular story sure appears as though it was.
Joe will be appearing at the Albany Comic Con in two weeks, Sunday, October 30, and you can be sure Denro and I will be there!
Meeker behind the wheel
It seems almost every time I see Ralph Meeker in something, he’s driving a car.
Kiss Me Deadly (1955) – with Cloris Leachman
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 1, episode 1, Revenge – with Vera Miles
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 2, episode 20, Malice Domestic – with Lili Kardell
Food of the Gods (1976) – with Pamela Franklin
If you have never seen Revenge, I insist. It was based on a short story by Samuel Blas, and had already been adapted into an EC comic book story before Hitchcock got hold of it. Hitch himself directed Revenge, with one of his favorite actresses, and mine, Vera Miles. Don’t miss Francis “Aunt Bee” Bavier’s reaction to Vera in a bathing suit.